Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon are teaming up for trip number two (Picture: George Pimentel/Getty Images for Sundance Film Festival)

Picture Michael Caine on holiday in Italy. Got it? Now take away Michael Caine, and replace him with Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, doing fair-to-average impressions of him, while tucking into some fine Tuscan food and wine.

If this appeals to you, you’re in for a treat as the first clip of The Trip in Italy has been released, and it promises more of the same from the not-so-dynamic duo’s rambling foodie adventures, only this time, they’ve left the north of England behind for an Italian job instead. And yes, there’s more Michael Caine.

Never heard of The Trip? Do yourself a favour and get on board. The premise of the first series, aired in 2010, is this: Coogan, in an attempt to impress his foodie American girlfriend, has accepted a commission from a newspaper to go on a gourmet tour of the north of England. Sadly for Coogan, this coincides with said girlfriend deciding it’s time for them to take a break in their relationship. Rather than face a lonely roadtrip of meals for one, he invites his colleague-more-than-friend, Rob Brydon. Middle-aged hilarity ensues.

It’s fiction, but it’s based on versions of themselves, and it’s a continuation of the collaboration that was Michael Winterbottom’s Cock and Bull Story. It’s road movie meets Masterchef – what’s not to love?

The series is underpinned by their constant competitiveness, barely concealed attempts by each to undermine the other, like when Brydon attempts to seduce a hotel waitress, only for Coogan to sweep in and steal the show. So spot on, it hurts.

It’s a classic odd-couple pairing, which never fails. It also never fails to make me hungry and long for Lake District wanderings. Is it fair to say that The Trip has done for the north, what Alan Partridge has done for Norwich?

So in preparation for The Trip in Italy, which gets the full BBC series treatment later this year, here’s some of my favourite clips from the first series to whet your appetite for what comes next.